General
30 Mar 07
09 Apr 07
Originally posted by RamnedI am a personal friend of George Winson, and I sent him a link to that performance. It's amazing for such a young kid. Do you know anything about him? He has two things in common with George:
[b]Best Pianist? Easy:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xMZRyPeDNeM[/b]
1: excellant stride technique, and 2: he is pedalling in stocking feet, something George does onstage, when I saw him at the Kennedy center, the staff was shocked by this barbarian display🙂
09 Apr 07
Originally posted by NordlysI tend to agree. Art Tatum may well have been the best pianist by a country mile but few name him as the greatest. Oscar Peterson was another but his sense of improvisation puts him ahead of Tatum in my book. Plus the fact that he could accompany other greats such aas Lester Young...Tatum pretty much played solo.
I wouldn't say that the technically best player is the best player.
Look at Monk. Absolutely brilliant but abstract in a style that somehow hides the sense of how terrific actually he was technically.
09 Apr 07
Originally posted by badmoonOscar Peterson = Genius 😀
I tend to agree. Art Tatum may well have been the best pianist by a country mile but few name him as the greatest. Oscar Peterson was another but his sense of improvisation puts him ahead of Tatum in my book. Plus the fact that he could accompany other greats such aas Lester Young...Tatum pretty much played solo.
Look at Monk. Absolutely brilliant but abstract in a style that somehow hides the sense of how terrific actually he was technically.
09 Apr 07
1 edit
Originally posted by eatmybishopLoL can Bach and co play the blues and Rock n Roll while singing along and selling millions of moo lah earning records.. blah blah nah nah nah na na..
elton john???? are you having a laugh??? we're talking the best pianists here, not some cheap, chord playing, part time piano player called elton john? could he play bach, beethoven, chopin...? could he do what a jazz pianist does and improvise for 20 minutes on a chord progression
Seriously.. there are a list of brilliant piano playing entertainers that started out as aspiring young concert pianists but could never achieve their dreams because their fingers were just too short... Elton said it many times.. others were Victor Borge, Liberace and Neil Sedaka. Then there were the Piano by Candlelight entertainers Richard Clayderman and Carl Doy..hundreds of others world wide.. all very good but never concert pianists.
You got me thinking though.. the best technical singer ever may not be the one you want to listen to and as such may not be the best ever.
The greatest may be the one that has brought the most joy to the largest populace???
Check out what Pulitzer prize winning music critic Harold Schonberg had to say in his "The Greatest Pianists from Mozart to the Present" Book
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0671638378/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-8961832-5064021#reader-link
09 Apr 07
Originally posted by Tirau Danokay, i will... but i think you're making the mistake of judging the best pianist by how popular they are or how many records they've sold; this isnt the question, the question is who is the greatest, by that i think that implies who - technically speaking - is the greatest? elton john doesnt even come close.... are you honestly comparing elton john to oscar peterson or glenn gould? the truth is peterson or gould wouldnt want to play rock, it just wouldnt challenge them; rock is a musical style with simple chord progressions with using simple harmonies, the closest you could get to this is peterson playing the blues which he does, listen to one of those recordings then listen to elton john trying to play the blues, then reply!
LoL can Bach and co play the blues and Rock n Roll while singing along and selling millions of moo lah earning records.. blah blah nah nah nah na na..
Seriously.. there are a list of brilliant piano playing entertainers that started out as aspiring young concert pianists but could never achieve their dreams because their fingers were just too short... E ...[text shortened]... ok
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0671638378/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-8961832-5064021#reader-link
09 Apr 07
Originally posted by eatmybishopYou think Rick Wakeman plays simple chord progressions??... He was thru the RCM too! He was concert class...... he just got p'ssed... You ever heard him play a classical grand seriously?? He's superb - not simple rock progressions as you imply rock keyboardists play!
okay, i will... but i think you're making the mistake of judging the best pianist by how popular they are or how many records they've sold; this isnt the question, the question is who is the greatest, by that i think that implies who - technically speaking - is the greatest? elton john doesnt even come close.... are you honestly comparing elton john to o ...[text shortened]... ten to one of those recordings then listen to elton john trying to play the blues, then reply!
09 Apr 07
Originally posted by eatmybishopNo I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say.. if you read the comments from the link you'll pick up what the master critic has said on gauging greatness and making comparison's of the great pianists.
okay, i will... but i think you're making the mistake of judging the best pianist by how popular they are or how many records they've sold; this isnt the question, the question is who is the greatest, by that i think that implies who - technically speaking - is the greatest? elton john doesnt even come close.... are you honestly comparing elton john to o ...[text shortened]... ten to one of those recordings then listen to elton john trying to play the blues, then reply!
He brings out the areas of strength and the differences between various players and leaves it to the individual to decide who they liked the best..
He does however identify nuances in the various players which I certainly could not fully understand. Elton etc all said they could never be great players.. but they gave us great entertainment.
My Fav is Vladimir Horowitz but I am still building my collection of music and may one day change my mind.. thats the beauty of music and musical discussions like these...The Learning.
